The Stewart Report

Usually when a state takes a nickname, it’s a name taken to make the citizens there proud. But then there's the State of Oklahoma and their nickname, the “Sooners”. Just how did they get that name? This one is very odd. But first, a few other State trivia facts you might find interesting.

For example, of the original 13 colonies, did you know that New Hampshire was the first to declare its independence from England - a full six months before the Declaration of Independence was even signed. Wow, that took courage!

And we all know that the state of Missouri is known as the “Show Me State”. Where did that come from? Well, in 1899 Missouri Congressman William Vandiver, during a speech he was giving in Philadelphia said this; “Sirs, your frothing eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri you have to show me”. That’s where the saying started.

Here's one I've never heard. What’s the tallest mountain in the world? Normally we would all say Mount Everest, but, technically, we would be wrong. Mount Everest does reach the highest point above sea level. But, the tallest mountain from its base is actually in our United States on the island of Hawaii. Believe it or not, if you measure from the actual base of Mount ManuaKea, which starts far below sea level at the ocean floor. If you measure its actual height, it rises to 33,476 feet - almost 1 mile taller than Mount Everest. Wow!

How about this one. A mountain is not considered to be a mountain unless it reaches an elevation of over 2000 feet. Anything below that 2,000 feet is considered to be a hill. Well, the state of Oklahoma lays claim to the world's tallest hill, Cavanal Hill, which is 1,999 feet tall. I wonder why they didn't just take a foot of dirt and throw it on top?

But here's a fact about the state of Oklahoma I don't understand. It's their State nickname, the Sooners. Usually, a State nickname is something to make the state proud, but did you know where the word “Sooner” comes from?

Well, in 1889, more and more settlers were moving to Oklahoma and they needed more land. So that territory made a plan that on April 22, 1889, at high noon, people would line up on the Oklahoma border. And at that pistol shot they would rush to claim their free 160 acres of land.

On that date and time, an unbelievable 50,000 settlers showed up at the starting line in wagons and on horses, some even on foot, to get their land. And by nightfall over 3,125 square miles of land had been claimed. That's an area more than two times the size of Rhode Island.

But just where did the whole “Sooner” thing come from? Well, in anticipation that some would cheat by jumping the gun, soldiers had been placed along the border to keep the race honest. But just like anything else man devises, there's always somebody willing to break the rules. And sure enough some people actually snuck past the soldiers and claimed their land sooner than they had been allowed. Thus they were called “Sooners”. Now, I understand that part. But the part that still puzzles me is just how that name came to become the Oklahoma nickname. Somebody's got to help me out with that one. If you know, drop me a note.

May God bless you!  

Jerry Stewart